The Girl with the Auburn Hair
by werideforjustice
Summary: Jolene was every Texan man's dream gal. For a frontierswoman with striking beauty, she resides alone. She is taken hostage by the Cavendish gang after they rob her house. One of the outlaws cares for her. Enjoy!
1. The Capture

December 16th, 1854  
Texas had a wide variety of frontierswomen who were either strikingly beautiful or very plain. Some of them made a reputation with the town they resided in. Like Jolene. Jolene was every man's dream gal. Other frontierswomen disliked her and was jealous because their husbands wouldn't stop talking about her. As they huddle in groups as she walks by, they'd say: "Better watch over your man. If you even turn your cheek for a second, he ain't yours anymore." They'd snicker. Jolene was one of those frontierswoman who was strikingly beautiful. She had long, curly Auburn hair with green eyes that were hard to not look at. Now, Jolene had no intention to steal any hearts around Texas. She couldn't help being so beautiful. It's the male population that can't control themselves. Lots of men try to flirt with her. Married and unmarried. Unbelievably, she's not taken. No husband. No lover, surprisingly. Just Jolene and herself.  
On a cold day in Texas, Jolene was standing in her front porch as she put a shawl around her to keep warm. "What a cold day it is today." She said as she held her hands together. She went back inside her house. She started a fire in the firewood she had picked out earlier and sat down by it hovering her hands over it to keep warm. She looked out her window. Snow fell from the sky. A distant gun shot was made and she immediately got up from the ground and looked out her window. No one was there. Another gunshot was made. Frightened, she locked her door and closed the curtains over her windows and ran into her bedroom and closed the door. Not making a sound. She was afraid. Another gunshot was fired. She curled into a ball in the corner fearing for her life. She was afraid whoever made the shot would barge inside and shoot her. She covered her ears. Another shot was made except now, she heard a scream from outside. She ran to open her bedroom door and peaked from behind her window's curtain. She saw a body lying on the snow. In a puddle of blood. She backed away from the window with her hands cupped around her mouth gasping. Her eyes widened. "Oh my." She said making the sign of the cross. "Lord, what do I do?" She said grabbing her Bible. She held it close to her heart hoping God would protect her. She then heard voices outside of her house and then a loud knock on her door. She cupped her hands over her mouth trying not to make a sound. "Open up!" The voice demanded. She crawled to the corner. She huddled herself. Another knock was made but even louder. "Open this door! We know you're in there!" Next thing you know, the door was kicked down. Jolene screamed. It was an outlaw gang of about 7 men who were badly dressed and looked vicious. She got up fast and ran into her room. "Go after her!" One of the outlaws said pointing at her. "I'll take whatever I can grab here." One of them started stealing whatever they could get their hands on as one outlaw went after Jolene. Jolene, frightened, had no where else to turn. She was in a dead end and couldn't hide anywhere else. She turned around as an outlaw barged inside and grabbed her. He dragged her outside. "Got you!" Jolene screamed. "Let go of me! Please!" He cupped his hand over her mouth. "Shut it!" He said as he dragged her out. He threw her to the snowy ground. She began to cry. The gang left the house with whatever they could obtain. "What do we do with her?" "We have to ask the leader first. Hey, Butch!" The Cavendish gang had raided Jolene's house and Butch was the leader. He came out last out of the house with a bag full of stolen goods from Jolene's house. "What?" He said. "What do we do with her? Shoot her?" "Don't shoot her. We're taking her with us." "Why?" Butch looked at his gang member for a long time. "Does it matter? Just get her on the damn horse!" Butch said as he got on his horse. "Now hurry up before we get caught by the damn rangers!" The gang all got on their horses. Jolene got tied up and put onto one of the horses with a gang member. She didn't know what would happen to her. Whether she would get shot or become an outlaw. Either way, she would rather be hanged.  
Through the cold snow, the gang rode for an hour. They finally got to their destination. With no fire, but a place to sleep. Frank got Jolene down from the horse and proceeded to untie her. "You got a pretty dress, ma'am." Jolene noticed that Frank admired women's clothing. Frightened, she did not reply to him. She held herself close. She was cold. The whole gang stared at her as she was shivering in the cold. She didn't say a word. Although, she wanted to know why they took her so she spoke. "I wanna go back home." She said as her teeth chattered together. Butch laughed. "Why did you take me? All you wanted was my goods." Nobody replied back as to why they took her. "I demand an answer!" She said furiously. Butch stared at her and he took out his knife and pointed it at her. "Hey! Shut it!" "That's no way to speak to a lady!" She said angered. Butch smiled sarcastically. "You ain't no lady." Butch's gang laughed. Appalled by his remark, she slapped his face. Butch, angered, grabbed her neck in one hand and with a knife in the other holding it next to her neck. "Do that again. See what will happen." He let go of her. She held onto her neck. Butch squeezed her neck too tight, it hurt her. She couldn't stop staring at his lip. She was scared to question him about it. Maybe he'd cut her neck if she asked. So she refrained from asking.


	2. Outlaws Only

Night fell and the winds grew stronger and colder. Jolene sat in a curled ball as the gang ate their supper. She blew into her hands to keep warm. Her nose had turned red. None of the outlaws offered to give her food for she was extremely hungry. She had not eaten the whole day. Hesitant, she reached for a loaf of bread, but Butch held a knife to her hand and said,"Outlaws only." She looked at him sternly. "But, I'm hungry." Butch looked at her as he ate his bread. "Too bad. Looks like you're gonna have to starve." He smiled a devilish smile. Ignoring his statement, Jolene quickly grabbed the bread and started munching on it. Butch, now angered, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up to his face. Eye to eye. "Did you not hear what I said, girl?" He put his hand around her neck. She spat at his face. Butch abusively slapped her across her face making Jolene fall to the ground. The gang and Butch laughed at her as she cupped her hands over her face crying. Butch took out his knife and held it at her neck. Jolene was frightened. She looked at him. "I am not afraid of you." Butch smiled. "I bet you will be once I start cutting at your neck." He said now having he knife closer to her neck. She held his arm so she can back away from him. She punched him and ran for it. Butch yelled at his gang to "Get her!" The gang ran after Jolene as she frantically started to run faster. One outlaw caught up to her and grabbed her by the waist. "Got ya!" Jolene screamed. She flailed her legs in air. He then threw her to the ground towards Butch's feet. She looked up at Butch. Cavendish grabbed her by the neck holding her up to his face. "Damnit girl! You've gone too far!" He said as he grabbed her hair forcefully and dragged her behind a huge boulder. He took out his gun and pointed it at her head. Jolene was even more frightened now because Butch's weapon of choice was a gun. She wept and wept. "Girls like you make me want to shoot them. You're a stubborn one aren't you?" Jolene closed her eyes crying even more now. "You know what I did to my last girl who refused to listen to me?" Jolene looked at him in fear. "I cut off her leg and ate it." Jolene's eyes widened. "What makes you think you'll get away?" Butch now putting the gun more deep into her scalp. "I will pull this trigger. I swear to God I will shoot you down all the way to Hell." Jolene didn't know what to do at this point. She was so frightened, she fainted. Butch now holding her in his arms as her unconscious body is let loose. Her body fell to the floor. Butch walked away from behind the boulder and walked towards his gang. "Where's the girl?" Butch spat at the ground. "She fainted." "And you just left her there?" Butch ignored them and sat back down as he ate some more.

When Jolene finally awoke, it was half past midnight. She got up off the ground and looked around slowly. She had a massive headache because her head had hit a rock as she fell to the ground. She came out from behind the boulder and noticed the outlaws were asleep already. She found this an opportunity to escape. Quietly, she crept past the sleeping bodies and made a run for it. As she ran, the night was so dark, she had tripped over a log and fell. This woke up one of the outlaws: Frank. He looked around to see what made the noise and got up from his sleep. He walked around to find what made the noise and noticed Jolene on the ground clutching her knee. She had scraped it and some blood was present. She noticed Frank looking at her and got up quickly. "Please don't hurt me." She said about to cry. "I just want to go home." Frank looked at her and had ripped off a piece of cloth and damped it into a nearby river and dabbed her knee. It stung. He then wrapped the cloth around her knee and said,"Go." She looked at him. "I said go." Jolene got off the ground and stared at Frank in disbelief. "Go home while you can." Jolene, still in disbelief, was relieved. "You're a good man." she said hugging him before she made a run for it. Frank watched her run away until he couldn't see her figure no more.


	3. Shoot Me Instead

Dawn arose as the Cavendish gang had awakened and Butch did not look pleased. "That whore ran away!" he yelled at himself in anger. Frank kept quiet as he looked at Butch in fright. "I swear to God, we are going to find her and when we do, I'm going to kill her." Frank knew that he was the one that let her go, but if Butch were to find out that he did this, Frank would get killed too. Frank did not like seeing women get hurt and cringes at the sight of mistreatment towards one. The last thing Frank wanted to see was Jolene getting killed by Butch. "I think I know where she went." Butch said as he looked off into the distance. "I have to go back to Calico, where we robbed her." Butch grabbed his trench coat and put it on along with his hat. He got onto his horse. "You stay here. I'm going after that harlot myself. And when I return, be sure that blood _will_ be shed." He kicked his horse and rode off to find Jolene. Frank held his head down and whispered to himself, "God protect her."

As Butch rode into the town of Calico, he immediately found Jolene's house. He got off the horse and barged inside. He grabbed his knife and put it behind his back. "Whore!…Where are you!" No reply. He looked around the whole entire house and found that she was not here. "Damnit!" He said as he shoved his knife back in his pocket. The door suddenly barged open and there stood Jolene. Butch looked at her right in the eye as he grabbed his knife. She stood there with her mouth agape. "You!" Butch said as he approached her. She ran for it as she screamed. He ran after her and grabbed her having her facing him. She struggled to get away from his strong grip, but she couldn't. "You thought you could leave just like that, huh?" he said as he took out his knife and held it to her neck. "You thought wrong." Struggling, she said about to cry, "What do you want from me?" Her pleading eyes looked into his fierce eyes. "If you want my house and everything inside of it, even my money, take it. Just please don't kill me." She broke down in tears. Butch never responded to her question, so she asked him again. "Please! Just tell me what you want! I have done no wrong in this world! Why do you choose me? I am a good woman!" She couldn't stop crying. Butch didn't feel any sorry for her. But for some reason, he couldn't kill her. He put his knife back in his pocket and got her onto his horse as he did too and rode back to where the gang was stationed.

When they got back to the camping area, he threw Jolene to the ground. The gang looked at her, especially Frank who looked relieved that she was not shot. Butch got off and jumped right down in front of her. He got down on one knee and looked her straight in the eye. "You know what I'm gonna have to do now, don't you?" She didn't respond or even look at him. "You run away, I kill you." He smiled at her. He pulled out his gun. Frank, now even more frightened, widened his eyes. "I don't have any sympathy for you, darling." He said, putting his finger on the trigger. "Say hello to the Devil for me." And as Butch was about to pull the trigger, Frank stepped in and said, "Shoot me!" Butch stopped and looked at him; the whole gang did. "Shoot me instead!" Jolene looked at Frank. "I was the one who let her escape." Butch got off the ground and approached Frank. "What did you say?" "I – I was the one who let her run away." Butch was now even more angered now that he knew one of his members was behind this. "Butch, I don't think you should be killing this woman or let alone even keep her captive." Butch looked at Frank in a stern way. "Just let her go home and let it be. You do nothing but shoot people for fun. Even the most innocent of people." Butch was surprised. "But if you want to shoot someone, then shoot me, not her. She's too precious. At least to me she is." Butch looked at her, then at Frank. "Frank, are you in _love_ with this girl?" Butch pointed at Jolene in disbelief. "No, but I do care for her." Butch laughed as he put his gun back into his pocket. "Love…ha!" Butch smiled a sarcastic smile. "You've got to be crazy to fancy this whore." "Do _not_ call her that!" Frank's tone rose. No one was allowed to have their voice higher than the boss, but Frank was brave to overcome that rule. Butch did not like being overpowered. "She is _not_ a _whore_! Don't you _dare_ call her that ever again!" Butch was in shock that Frank took a stand for himself. Frank went over to Jolene and cradled her. "Are you ok?" Jolene looked at Frank and put her hand on his face. "You are a good man, Frank." She said as she smiled and kissed his cheek. Butch looked at the two in disbelief, but since Butch was a ruthless outlaw with no love in his heart, he shot Jolene.


	4. You Are a Good Man

Jolene looked into Frank's eyes as she clutched her stomach, where Butch had shot her. "Why did you shoot her?" Frank yelled at Butch. Frank looked into her eyes and began to tear up. "You're a good man." She said to him as she struggled to breathe. She looked over at Butch, then back at Frank. "Live your life in goodness and in love…It'll be worthwhile." She struggled to breathe. "And remember to…" she clutched her stomach. Frank cradled her closer. "And? And remember to what?" he said as he looked into her eyes. "Remember to…always stick up for what's right…no matter what you do…" Frank started to cry. "I will…" She smiled a faint smile. She held her hand against his face and wiped away his tears. "You're a good man, Frank…you're… a good…" She drew her last breath as her lifeless body lay in Frank's arms. Jolene died. Frank let out a loud cry. "No…no…no…you can't…no…" he said as he held her close to him. He slowly lifted up his head and turned towards Butch. He became angry with him. "Dang you, Cavendish! You kill and kill and kill! And what do you gain from killing?" Frank approached Butch in a harsh manner. He pointed at Jolene's lifeless body. "You killed this innocent woman. She had a life ahead of her and _you_ took that from her!" Butch did not respond. Frank was so mad with him that he wanted to kill him. "I have every intention of killing you." Frank's anger arose. Frank took out his gun and pointed it at Butch. Butch's face froze. "I am done being an outlaw. I am done being apart of your gang. And I am _done_ being a bad person! I'd rather live my life in goodness and in love." Frank looked at Jolene's body then back at Butch, but when he looked back at Butch, Cavendish had taken out his gun to pointed straight at Frank. Both had their guns pointed at each other. The rest of the Cavendish gang stood silent and frozen looking at the two. "Frank, I will shoot you if you don't put that gun down." "I will shoot you too if _you_ don't put your gun down either!" The two looked at each other in concentration. Each having their fingers on the trigger. "I will avenge her death." Frank said now approaching Butch. "I will shoot yo – " Butch had pulled his trigger and had shot Frank down. Frank's body laying next to Jolene's. He let out a cry of pain clutching his stomach. Frank held onto Jolene's hand. He smiled a faint smile as he laid his head on Jolene's shoulder. "We...we can be together forever now…" He clutched his stomach. "We can…we can stay together…no harm…" Frank struggled to speak and breathe. Butch fired another shot at Frank. Frank laid there. Lifeless. Still clutching onto Jolene's hand. The two lifeless bodies laid there on the ground. Butch put his gun away, looked at the two, and walked off. "Let's go." He told his gang. His gang was frozen as they stared at the two lifeless bodies on the ground. Nobody moved. "Well! Did nobody hear what I said?! Let's go!" Butch got onto his horse. The gang slowly got onto their horses. Butch kicked his horse and rode off. "Come on!" he yelled at them. The gang had not spoken a word. They all looked at the two in disbelief. As the rest of the gang rode off slowly, one of them whispered to themselves, "He _was_ a good man…"

The End


End file.
